Incapacity for work questionnaire

Buttercup

I have been sent the IB50 Incapacity for work Questionnaire to complete, most of the questions refer to physical problems and just a small amount of questions on depression and anxiety with what I'm suffering from, does anyone know if this is the correct form for my depression problems. I want to make sure everything is correct before I get sent for the dreaded medical!

Ted_Hutchinson

It is exactly the right form and I agree that it doesn't really lead the claimant to address the PCA test criteria for mental health claimants.
I am afraid that you now have to pay for one of the best guides to help you complete this section of the form
Incapacity benefit: detailed information

The criteria are set out here
All Work Test Calculator
and in more detail here
A guide to the personal capability assessment
the test itself is detailed
The Incapacity Benefit Handbook for Approved Doctors [2004] -

There may be another guide to help you address the IB mental health test criteria online which you don't have to pay for but I haven't time to search at the moment.

I would suggest that you prepare your replies on a blank piece of paper and take these to be checked by you local welfare rights provider before you put them on the form and submit them.
Edit One further point is that you may be in an "Exempt" category see the DWP OFFICIAL details HERE
Appendix C - Exempt categories
Many DWP offices do appear to be operating outside of the law in ignoring these PCA exempt categories. If you believe you fit one of the exempt criteria then I suggest you first contact you MP at FAXYOURMP asking him to write to your local office to explain to him why the pca exempt criteria are being systematically ignored (you are one of many). You must not however give the decision maker you are refusing to submit to an assessment as this in itself provides grounds for benefit to be withheld. But on the other hand completing a form which you are not legally obliged to complete may accidentally provide evidence you don't meet the criteria. So while waiting for you MP it may be tactful, before the return date expires, to write to the Decision Maker asking for the reasons why someone who is clearly within the exempt criteria status is being requested to complete this form and making it clear that when you receive the legal basis for this request you will comply.

Curry_Queen

Here's a download for the Guide to the Personal Capability Assessment and mental health


Hope that helps

Fran

You could just take the form to your local Citizens Advice Bureau or other welfare benefits adviser and they will help you fill it in too.

Ted_Hutchinson

Curry_Queen wrote:

Here's a download for the Guide to the Personal Capability Assessment and mental health


Hope that helps

Thanks to CQ for the link, this guide is by the same authors as the Benefitsandwork guide but not quite so up to date. Probably good enough for your purposes though.
Community Legal Service Direct will lead you to your nearest CAB or Welfare Rights provider. Will be helpful to them though if you have drafted out you provisional answers to the mental health section of the form.

PS the criteria which may lead to your PCA exemption is Severe mental illness, defined in legislation as the presence of mental disease which severely and adversely affects a person's mood or behaviour, and which severely restricts his social functioning, or his awareness of his immediate environment.
Manic Depression may be one of these depending on how badly you are affected but there will be others.

Edit Have changed the link attribution and note the comments. Apologies to Curry Queen, I did quote the right reply but still was thinking about providing the CLS link to find the nearest CAB in reponse to Fran's post so had Fran in mind while I was typing. It wasn't as if the quote wasn't attributed at all.

Curry_Queen

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

Thanks to Fran for the link,

Who???? :rotfl:


It may be a little out of date but the criteria remains more or less the same, and it was the guides produced by these people that enabled me to successfully claim DLA. Prior to that I'd been turned down, as is the case for many, but was too ill at the time to appeal it and didn't know who to ask for help.

Fran

Curry_Queen wrote:

Who???? :rotfl:

I'll look after that thanks for you CQ - you've got plenty of your own! It's only for fun anyway.

Curry_Queen

Fran wrote:

I'll look after that thanks for you CQ - you've got plenty of your own! It's only for fun anyway.

I don't mind in the slightest hun, and I'm sure it was just an oversight on Ted's behalf


You've probably already done this, but I'm wondering if it isn't a good idea to actually save a hard copy of these guides from BHAS in light of the other website now charging for access to them. I'd already saved the DLA MH guide but I've also gone back and grabbed the appeals guidance now, even though I've got another two and half years till my claim is re-assessed, but these guides are invaluable when it comes to claiming if you can't get help from CAB or other Welfare depts (as in my case cos of my agoraphobia) and I wonder whether Martin might not be interested in asking permission to publish them somewhere on this site, otherwise it's going to be left to individuals to either host the pdf files or email them to whomever may need them

As you're BG for this area I wonder if it's something you might want to consider discussing with Martin?

Fran

There's two problems in doing this, firstly there's copyright as you can't copy large amounts of text from other sites, secondly there's the fact that legislation changes all the time and anything recorded like that would not necessarily be up to date, so it's not really feasible.

Re agoraphobia - some CABx do home visits, and maybe other welfare organisations. Also you can get help on this and other forums if you need it.

Curry_Queen

Fran wrote:

Re agoraphobia - some CABx do home visits, and maybe other welfare organisations.

Now that's something I never knew about before and has never been suggested to me, but I'll certainly look into that, thanks


As for the other, I did mention about Martin asking for permission to publicise the documents but I hadn't thought about keeping them updated, which I suppose could pose a problem. Was worth a thought anyway